2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Battery Life

[Silver Ratler]

I just had to replace the batteries in my truck The batteries were from Interstate and lasted 28 months. Is this about average for the Texas heat? or Am I buyhing the wrong battery?



What brand of battery would provide the best and longest performance?

 

[MAleshire]

I'd recommend that you take a look at batteries from Wally World and Costco. They both have a battery that fits the specs for our trucks, and both have a 3 yr. no questions asked full replacement. They have a prorated warranty after the 3 years, and that prorating on the Costco battery is for 100 months. Not sure on the WalMart battery, but think they're prorated for 72 months. The cost for either battery is about $72. As far as your interstate battery is concerned, they are a good battery, but should have lasted well beyond 18 months if properly serviced and installed in conjunction with a charging system that's working properly.



Skip

 

[CSnyder]

I would suggest OEM replacements. I still have my originals in my 2000 with 260,000 on the clock.

 

[JFaughn]

Go to a interstate dealer & get new replacements , but if you were at my shop I would say that you need to check out the truck , in the last 25 yrs I haven't seen an interstate fail in a system that did not have some other issue .
Interstate has a guarantee that is equal to any other , as a costumer or a shop , I do not need a receipt , just read the date code on battery [ the melted in one ] .

 

[rluft]

I started buying the Walmart batteries because of the warranty. Especially for vehicles that don't get used much and the batteries are abused.

 

[Loren]

What brand of battery would provide the best and longest performance?

There are "battery wars" in these forums, just like the "oil wars" that get started whenever someone asks which is the best oil. The thing to realize about all of them is that everyone who posts has an OPINION about batteries or oil, and not too many posters have facts.



Here's my OPINION: As a general rule, any brand's deep-cycle batteries will be stronger and longer lasting than that brand's starting batteries.



I like Optima deep-cycle batteries. These are the spiral wound ones. Optima makes starting batteries and deep-cycle batteries. I bought my first Optima batteries in January 1999 to replace the factory batteries in my 1995 truck. Those batteries are still good. I am currently using them in my travel trailer. So far (knock on wood), I have not had an Optima battery fail, and I own eight of them.



Optimas are AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) batteries. There are other excellent brands out there. Odyssey is another brand with an excellent reputation.



I also think (opinion again) that one reason I get good life from my batteries is that I take good care of them. I own four battery chargers and have finally found a couple of them that take good care of batteries. I remove the batteries from the trailer over the winter and keep them charged. I charge the tractor battery at least once a month.



My best chargers will "recondition" the battery. See these sites for a discussion of reconditioning.

Battery Desulfation - Projects

and

Battery Desulfation - Storage



I desulfate (recondition) my batteries several times a year. I don't keep a desulfator on any battery all the time, although you can do that if you want to.



The bottom line will be that the best batteries are very expensive. Cheaper batteries won't last as long, but they are cheaper. You may spend less by buying cheap batteries, or it may cost less in the long run to buy the expensive batteries. You get to choose.



Good luck.

Loren

 

[maxburk]

I agree with the above information. I only own battery chargers that will disulphate the batteries. I only do mine twice a year. I can not confirm this but was told by a battery distributor that all batteries made in the USA were good. In the same breath he said DO NOT buy batteries made in Mexico. They will not last as long due to less lead being used in the plates.

Just my two cents.

 

[FLynes]

I completely agree with what Loren wrote, however here are my facts:



I got my truck last February. It had MaxxStart batteries in it, which were crudded up with corrosion and leaking everywhere. I cleaned up the compartment, neutralized the acid with baking soda and water and replaced the hold downs because the old ones were corroded beyond repair.



I bought OEM batteries from my local Mopar dealer, at a cost of $115 total. I haven't had a problem since. The dealer checked my alternator and found no problems with it. I have no explanation why the MaxxStarts were leaking acid.



I had my 1971 Airstream completely restored in 2005. It was finished in November and had an Optima Blue Top. I took the Airstream out to Arizona in the summer of 2007 for school at Fort Huachuca. In the middle of the night I woke up to the smell of rotten eggs and a hissing noise. I freaked out, thinking I had a gas leak. After opening every window and shutting off the gas at the mains, the hissing was still loud and persistent. I followed the noise to the battery compartment, in the rear of the rig. It was the Optima. One of the "vents?" that has the pumice-like material on it had blown off. I disconnected the battery from the electrical main and left it that way.



When I was coming home, I dropped off the Airstream at the KOA, in San Angelo (my future home). I took the battery to O'Reilly Auto Parts, and they told me that they would not warranty the battery, because I had not bought it from them..... like I said, the battery came from the restoration guy. After a heated phone call with the resto guy (which resulted in a dial tone), I sucked it up and bought another Optima Blue Top for $200 (the rising price of lead, I was told). I haven't had another problem since.



Are the Optimas only good for about two years? Who knows. All I know is that I'm sticking with the Mopar OEMs for my Ram.



My long-winded $. 02

 

[Loren]

Fred,



I had venting from one of my Optimas while I was charging it. It never blew the vent completely off though.



In my case, I was charging at too high a rate. The battery was getting too much current and venting. I immediately disconnected the charger and allowed the battery to cool before I reconnected the charger at a lower rate. I don't remember which battery that was, but it's still good (for now).



I suspect that in your case, the battery itself was the problem, but it wouldn't hurt to check the RV's charging system to make sure it's not hitting the batteries with too much current.



One more thing: Optima blue-tops are their marine batteries. They come with standard posts plus a threaded top connector with a stainless steel wing nut. There are blue-tops that are starting batteries and blue-tops that are deep-cycle batteries. The deep-cycle batteries have a "D" in the part number, like my D900M blue-tops. There is also a D34M, which appears to be the same battery but with a different number.



All the yellow-tops are deep cycle. All the red-tops are starting batteries.



Loren

 

[FLynes]

Yeah, I suspected the charging system, but it checked out okay... it was brand new too (Iota brand) and comes with a sensor which shuts off the charging cycle as soon as the battery is charged.



Maybe it was just a dud battery, but it ticked me off that I had to pay for a new one. I haven't had a problem with this one, knock on wood.



I'll check to see if I have a "D" on this battery... I remember the old one did.

 

[DirtyDodge]

I would suggest OEM replacements. I still have my originals in my 2000 with 260,000 on the clock.

WOW, I was starting to worry about my stock batteries, I have an 02 with 92k on it. I just hope it is convenient when they do decide to go out someday...

 

[DonTX]

My aftermarket batteries are just now starting to get weak, 8 years old! I am going to replace them with WalMart batteries, have been having really good luck with them.

 

[Grizzly]

I won't stand on my soap box and say that Costco batteries are the best because they may not be, but they do have the best warranty and there are Costco all over the US including Alaska if you need to replace them. Same is true for WalMart.

 

[cArNiVaLwOrKeR]

8 years

My aftermarket batteries are just now starting to get weak, 8 years old! I am going to replace them with WalMart batteries, have been having really good luck with them.

Which brand are they?

 

[JFaughn]

Last I heard there are about 3 manufactures of batteries in all of US , they make there own brand to higher standards then all of those they make for other brands .
How long they last is in 2 parts quality & conditions in which they are used - after over 30 yrs in the repair bis , when someone comes in for service , it is obvious by looking under the hood who's going to have problems & who is not , by seeing how the treat they truck / car , waiting to do a repair/service after symptoms start until total failure of one of three parts [ starter , alt , batteries ] , then none of those parts are going to last as long as they could .
Then when it comes to warranty , they keep tract of each other [ remember , 3 manufactures ] so they end up with the same 48 , 72 mth. , unless there is either a very cheap = low quality or different tech = coiled plates = optoma .
The real difference is how the retailer operates , as a shop selling interstate , is all I have to see is the battery & the melted in date code , and then I honer the manufactures warranty , 100% exchange of prorate after what ever the current industry standard is .
The problem comes in when , the retailer is set up to just make money , not costumers , as an example I when over to my mothers to help with her car , battery dead , go to the closest , Checker auto parts , my shop was 15 miles farther , bought a Exide battery , 9 months later , Exide was dead , they would not honer the replacement because I did not have the receipt .

 

[Missouri Mule]

My oem batteries lasted 3 years they just wore out. The Optima red tops that I put in lasted 5 1/2 years. I'm on my second pair of Red tops.

 

[obert]

I've had very good luck with Optima's. Have 'em in a variety of aplications. One failure (deep cycle in the camper), and it was not the battery's fault. Red tops in my truck since Jan. '03, still cranking strong.



-- Is the melty code specific to one mfgr?



-- I knew there were few mfgr's of batteries, is or is not Exide one of them? Bobcat (skid loader) branded batteries have the melty code, and they come to the dealer (where I work) off an Exide truck. Exide also takes our old ones. I was thinking Exide is a distributer, or marketer rather than a manufacturer. Correct??

 

[icman95]

Normally I would expect aftermarket parts to be better that OEM parts in most areas, but I must say I'm quite thrilled with my OEM batteries. They'll be 7 years old in May and never once a problem. Still cranking fast and running strong. I will say that I don't have too many miles on the truck (about 78k) for its age, but that means that the batteries actually sit there doing nothing for periods of time. All the while slowly draining and not getting a recharge. Still, I've never had to jump the truck to start it and the telltale windows on the batteries are still green. They don't owe me a thing and if they were to go tomorrow I wouldn't be upset.

 

[JFaughn]

The melted in code is for most manufactures , but after yrs of working in others shops , I only sold Interstate in mine because of quality , price & warranty/customer/dealer relations .

 

[JGK]

I was going to replace my red top optimas (Interstates, actually) with the same thing last fall after 5-1/2 years of service until I discovered Sears platinum series AGM batteries. Lower price than the Optima/Interstates and a longer warranty, plus higher CCAs. So we'll see how those work out. So far, so good.



-Jay